elections: president elected by the House of People's Representatives for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); election
last held on 9 October 2007 (next to be held in October 2013); prime minister designated by the party in power following legislative elections

election results: GIRMA Woldegiorgis elected president; percent of vote by the House of People's Representatives - 79%

bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Federation (or upper chamber responsible for interpreting the constitution and
federal-regional issues) (108 seats; members chosen by state assemblies to serve five-year terms) and the House of People's Representatives (or lower chamber responsible for passing legislation)
(547 seats; members directly elected by popular vote from single-member districts to serve five-year terms)

Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and
appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the
Federal Judicial Administrative Council)

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red, with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the
angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands; green represents hope and the fertility of the land, yellow symbolizes justice and harmony, while red stands for
sacrifice and heroism in the defense of the land; the blue of the disk symbolizes peace and the pentagram represents the unity and equality of the nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia

note:Ethiopiais the oldest independent country inAfrica, and the three main colors of her flag (adopted ca. 1895) were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became
known as the Pan-African colors; the emblem in the center of the current flag was added in 1996